Development of a commercial Wire and Laser Additive Manufacture process - Wi-LAM

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Laser Additive Solutions Ltd (LAS) is a specialist precision laser Additive Manufacture, repair, and joining processes service provider, specialising in providing the highest quality laser-based solutions to our customers. Current LAS customers include blue chip companies operating in aerospace, power generation, transport and military sectors. We also work closely with a range of UK SME's, such as tooling companies as well as UK universities.The concept behind the project Wi-LAM (Wire and Laser Additive Manufacture) is to use the technology of Additive Manufacture to produce Inconel 718 parts using Wire Laser Directed Energy Deposition (Wire L-DED) Technology. The parts will then be qualified to the standard API 20S, an oil and gas standard for additively manufactured components which was published in October 2021\.The Wire L-DED process is not a commonly used process in UK commercial business, but we believe using this technology can be extremely attractive to our existing customers. It can reduce their dependence on things such as overseas raw material supply, excessive machining, and material wastage. It can therefore consolidate material supply simply into metal wire rather than multiple shapes and sizes. In turn this can reduce both cost and lead time for the supply of new parts and equipment.The UK supply chain is increasingly coming under strain from importing materials which have long lead times and high costs. Wi-LAM (Wire and Laser Additive Manufacture) aims to improve the manufacture, cost and lead time of medium to large Inconel 718 components.The LAS team will change this by using a State-of-the-art Laser processing cell with integrated Wire feed capability, TRUMPF 3kW TruDisk Laser, 9-axis KUKA KR30 HA Robotic Manipulation System. The LAS team has 45 years of combined additive manufacturing experience and the expertise to produce a fully qualified additively manufactured part for use in Oil and Gas, Nuclear and Aerospace industries.LAS will firstly develop a commercially viable process in terms of build rate and quality, then produce mechanical test pieces in multiple orientations and have them independently assessed. Finally, a first article part qualified to API 20S will be produced to demonstrate the process capability. With a qualified part and validated process, LAS will be able to offer Wi-LAM as a service with evidence, with confidence, and commercial viability to its customers.